pgcbl.com

The Pioneers came into a special pink in the park night, as they celebrated breast cancer survivors and the Susan G Koman foundation with a very special night at historic Dunn Field, on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. By the end of the night the Pios had jumped out of last place and within striking distance of the brass ring, or in this case a playoff spot.

With two seven inning games to be played Elmira focused their attention on pitching that could guarantee them elongated innings so that the bullpen could get a day off. Former high school teammates Tom Cattaneo and All Star Noah Rubino would both receive the nod from head coach Matt Burch. Cattaneo started game one and pitched 4 2/3 innings only allowing two runs to cross the plate courtesy of a Parker Denny home run that brought Allen Murphy around to score. Though the Pios had the end at the start of the fifth, 1-0, the end of the fifth would find Elmira back on top 3-2 courtesy of a two run blast by Nathan Peng. Connor Takacs worked the fine 2 1/3 to close out the first game with neither side scoring another run.

The second game started off with Noah Rubino spinning a gem soon the mound as he threw six innings of three hit baseball. Rubino allowed just two runs during the whole second game, while the Pioneers clobbered starter Allen Murphy. Elmira tagged Murphy for 9 hits over 2 2/3 innings giving them seven runs earned. No Pilots pitched would come in unscathed however as Brandon Odenhal and Dylan Blanchard each pitched to try to bring an end to the game and each surrendered runs to the Pioneers who, for at least one day, found their bats again. The final score was 10-2 as the Pioneers overtook the Pilots sending Newark to the division basement.